Kuro Neko - Part 1: Manchester
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Part One of the saga. Roxanne Potter is mystified; the Dursleys have moved up to Manchester, all to get away from them. But the trouble is on the horizon, but it is the start of the Kuro Neko, the Black Cat. Fem Harry
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Harry Potter. I just own this, one of a collection of short stories detailing the lives of alternate versions of Harry who is a strong criminal, and certainly not the wimp who appeared in the later books. This particular part contains some child abuse, so you have been warned. Please let me know what you think, but please let the criticism be practical and please don't give me anything nonsensical like how this is cliche stuff - get the hint - there are NO original Harry Potter stories out there. **

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**Kuro Neko.**

**Manchester **

_The more things change, the more they stay the same. _

Roxanne Potter had never heard of anything more truthful in her entire life while she walked _home _though truthfully the Dursleys had a gift for transforming anything nice to something inwardly foul. The new house had been transformed into her second prison, although it was far different from Number 4. The sudden move from Little Whinging to Manchester was something that had taken Roxanne and Dudley by surprise, but Petunia had only been half pleased with the news. She hadn't wanted to leave Number 4 behind, not after she had spent so long trying to get the place nice.

Roxanne snorted. _Nice? I was the one who made the place nice. How many times a week did you make me polish the sideboards? How many times did you make me clean up everything? I made the place nice, not you. _

From what Roxanne had caught, later on, her uncle had been working on getting a Grunnings office built and opened in Manchester for a while, though her uncle had moved the family up north so then he could supervise it and make it as successful as the southern one. That made sense from a logical business view; many businesses which were successful tended to grow over the years, so what her uncle had done was logical. She had learnt that during her time at the library in Little Whinging, from one of the books which were on collection. And yet…there was something suspicious about the whole thing. Dudley hadn't known about this, in fact, when her cousin learnt what was going on, he had thrown a temper tantrum because he didn't want to lose his friends despite his parents' assurances they could visit, and he could phone them.

Roxy had noted her cousin's surprise was genuine. He had not known anything about the plans which was surprising, the Dursleys usually **_always _**told Dudley what was going on, so what was the reason behind them not telling him anything now? It made no sense. There was another reason why the Dursleys had made the decision to go up north.

She had heard them - Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon - talking one night when Dudley had gone up to bed and Roxy had been in her cupboard under the stairs, and she had overheard them saying something about _throwing them off. _

_Them?_

Who on Earth were _them?_

Roxy didn't know, but at this point in time, she didn't care, as she was trying to get used to Manchester, particularly the Trafford area, where the Dursleys had moved into. Roxanne, a small petite girl who was currently 8-years old, had long jet-black messy hair, something which her uncle detested with a passion, with milky-pale skin and emerald green eyes. Roxanne had hoped with the move up north things would change, that because they would be getting used to living in a new place the Dursleys would need time to get used to where they were before they abused her again, and that Dudley would also need time to form a new gang composed of the biggest and strongest idiots he could find.

She snorted. She should have known better it wouldn't be so simple, and it hadn't because the Dursleys still treated her poorly. At the new place, she was still treated like rubbish, and Roxy sincerely doubted that would change. Roxanne was still expected to clean the house, do the garden, cook and prepare the meals and everything else.

The school was different because now Dudley was not getting away completely with the bullying, which Roxanne was really pleased about. For too long, Dudley had been allowed to get away with everything simply because of his fathers' position within the community. Not here. Unlike in Little Whinging where Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were seen as well thought of and respectable people despite Dudley's bullying, the Grunnings office in Manchester was considerably smaller. Roxy understood even though the preparations for the start of the business had been in the works for a very long time, it would take a long time for it to really take off. In any case, Manchester was a city with dozens of businesses that were either as large as the Grunnings down South or much larger. In Little Whinging, Grunnings was probably the number one employer in the area considering its relatively large size.

In Manchester, it would take time for her _relatives _to build a presence, and so her relatives weren't really well thought of, they were just seen as another set of paying parents and that was it. To the people in this city, Grunnings was just one of a number of businesses, nothing to write home about.

In Surrey, many of Grunning's families were related to the people who worked in Stonewall Primary school, where Dudley and Roxanne had attended. That had not helped Roxy since all her uncle and aunt would need to do was spend a few minutes in their new home, and she would be punished for anything Dudley had done.

Here in Manchester, it wasn't the case which certainly made a change which delighted and yet unnerved the girl.

Already they had made it clear Dudley's bullying was not going to be tolerated. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had blustered, said it was her who was behind the bullying, and from what Roxy had heard, they had both shouted and screamed at the Headmaster, fully expecting the yelling to change his mind until the teacher had finally had enough, and revealed the CCTV footage showing the bullying. Even the Dursleys couldn't argue with the evidence there.

Still, it hadn't stopped them beating her simply to make them all feel better about themselves. Roxy didn't bother telling the teachers what their actions had to lead to; she had learnt the hard way telling people what the Dursleys were really like did nothing for her, and it just made things worse. She still had the scars from where Uncle Vernon's belt had torn into her back from the last time, and she was not in any hurry to repeat the mistake of thinking she could trust adults.

But still, she was pleased Dudley finally had the tables turned on him, although she was uncertain whether or not it would work out. Dudley had already set up a new gang, although how he had managed to find them she didn't know.

Like in Little Whinging, Dudley was going out of his way to make sure she didn't have any friends; he threatened any kid who was so much as _nice to her, _no matter what the teachers tried to do.

Dudley needn't have worried.

She wasn't looking for friends, especially after she had been humiliated the last time. It had taught her a lesson, never trust anyone.

When she arrived at the house, Roxy took a moment to admire it although she knew inside it was not pleasant The house was certainly different from the house they had left in Surrey. It was all on one floor and it had a drive which didn't exist in the old place, with an immaculate garden. Roxy looked at the garden with a grimace, if there was one thing she absolutely hated, it was gardening. Aunt Petunia wasn't sure about the house, nor the neighbourhood, though Roxy didn't doubt for a moment everything would return to normal. Soon Aunt Petunia would find more brainless friends to gossip with; she had already started spying on the neighbours even though she was trying to decide what colours of paint to decorate the house in although work hadn't yet begun on the project.

Around the back was an ornamental pond complete with a fountain, and a lovely patio with a park bench for barbecues. Outwardly the house was the dream home of any rich millionaire, but to Roxy, it was a house out of hell. She wondered what it said about her life that everything the Dursleys seemed to touch in general became rotted like it had some fatal disease. Already this house had become contaminated. She walked up to the door with a sigh, thankful Vernon was not here, but she knew Aunt Petunia was in, and the girl was not happy with the thought of encountering her aunt.

She had the woman in her face them moment she walked into the house. Roxanne inwardly sighed, she could see from her aunts' expression Petunia was unhappy, and she hadn't been happy for some time since nothing was being done to decorate the house, though she didn't doubt the house would be decorated in the same _normal _manner Petunia loved so much.

The first thing Roxy saw when she walked in through the front door was her aunt. The second thing she noticed was the sound of the TV being played at a loud volume, although she couldn't hear her cousin laughing his head off or making a sound.

"It's about time you got back here, girl," her lovely aunt snapped at her with a pinched expression on her face while her pale eyes glared at her with distaste. "Dinner isn't cooking itself."

_And hello to you too, _Roxy thought to herself with a mental eye roll. If there was one freedom she loved the most, it was the privacy of her own mind where she could think and say what she wanted in her head; with that, she could insult the Dursleys however she liked while she kept her outward responses and expressions as neutral as possible.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Petunia. I'll get on it after I've put my things away," Roxy replied while she kept her expression as calm as possible. She walked through the house to her bedroom. She finally had a bedroom and a wing all to herself; there was no upper storey for them to stick her into a cupboard under the stairs. She had finally gotten her own bedroom. In contrast to Dudley's, who unsurprisingly had the biggest bedroom in the house, her bedroom was tiny in comparison. Roxy didn't mind. She was just happy to have a room and a part of the house to herself. Once she had dumped her stuff in her room, listening out in case Dudley was in here. She wasn't sure if her cousin was in here or not, but she needed to check just to be on the safe side if she wanted to be left alone. Dudley had found a new tactic for making her life hell. He would hide in her bedroom and he would jump out and harass her then, sometimes he would slap her around, or sometimes he would damage what little stuff she had.

After finding out he wasn't in the built-in wardrobe or behind the door which were the only places Dudley was able to fit in, Roxy relaxed and she placed her stuff in a hiding place, knowing that although her cousin wasn't here that didn't mean he wouldn't leave her stuff alone.

"GIRL!"

"Coming Aunt Petunia," she called, and she left the room. She walked into the kitchen and she started to work on the dinner while she ignored her aunt, who looked at her with disgust. It didn't take her long to finish the dinner either since she knew Vernon would be back soon and he liked having dinner ready for him when he got back after a "long hard day at work."

She had just finished the meal and had grabbed the small plate she had prepared earlier just as she heard the sound of a car pulling into the drive. She left the kitchen, hoping to avoid her uncle for tonight. She managed to avoid the Dursleys for most of the evening, and she was left alone while she washed up before she went to bed.

XXX

The next day started out as it normally did. Petunia screamed at her to wake up which she quickly did. Roxanne had been well conditioned by the long years she had been living with the Dursleys, slowly counting down the days before she could leave her disgusting relatives behind for good, and she had been awake for hours.

After cooking breakfast for the family, Roxanne and Dudley were walked to school by Aunt Petunia. For the rest of the day, everything was fairly normal, but that changed around lunchtime during the lunch break.

Roxy was sitting in the library, thankful that the teachers were allowing her into the library since Dudley loved chasing and beating her up, fully expecting to get away with it only to discover he was very wrong. But while the school was harsher and it didn't have the same tolerant quality of Stonewall Primary, Roxanne didn't want to tempt Dudley into bullying her. In any case, her idiot cousin was doing a fine job of finding other targets.

It hadn't taken long for the students and teachers to find out Dudley was just another bully.

The library here, like the one she had used to hide in at Little Whinging, was a great place for her to hide in. Dudley hated learning and he couldn't stand books after growing up and being nurtured in an environment where even the merest mention of literature like a poem by Blake was spat on, though why Petunia hated books was a mystery for Roxy because she knew her aunt could read. Maybe it was because she had read a book, and she had found something she didn't like?

Roxy didn't know, didn't care.

From where she was sitting by the window, Roxanne could definitely hear the sounds of the kids, but she also heard something else. She lifted her head in alarm when she distantly heard the sound of a girl screaming in pain. It took a moment to see where the source of the cries was coming from. With a bit of work, she was able to look past some of the crowd which had surrounded the commotion, and she picked out the distinctive form of Dudley whose large size was easy enough to pick out from where she was. She also spotted the smaller and thinner figure of a girl, but before the girl was so far away and wasn't as big as Dudley, Roxanne couldn't see her.

_Oh, man. This isn't going to make the Dursleys popular. _

But then she saw something that made her smile; two boys who looked as large as Dudley were forcing themselves through the crowd. Roxanne's eyes widened when she saw the boys grab hold of Dudley, and a smile spread across her face when she saw the boys begin to pummel Dudley. She could distantly hear his pig-like wails as he was punched.

_Oh, this is EXCELLENT. At last Dudley, someone is giving a taste of your own medicine. I hope it hurts, you fat pig. _

Okay, Roxy knew the elder Dursleys would blame her for this mess, but she didn't care; she knew the Head would drag the Dursleys into the school, and they would see CCTV evidence it wasn't her. Even the Dursleys were not that stupid.

Roxanne was about to leave the library, desperate to get a front-row seat and see her idiot cousin be beaten up by two boys who looked tougher and stronger than he was, but before she even stood up, she almost groaned when she saw a group of teachers rushing to break the beating up. Roxanne pouted, she had hoped to see her cousin finally get what was coming to him, but she ignored it and sat back down.

XXX

When she returned to lessons, Roxanne was just sitting down when she heard some of the kids talking.

"Do you think Dursley is gonna get what's coming to him after beating Lizzie up?" one kid asked.

"Wouldn't surprise me," another girl scoffed. "Honestly, who in their right mind would slap Lizzie Tyler in the face?"

Roxanne stopped and went still while her eyes widened.

_Lizzie Tyler? _

_Oh, come on Dudley, even you cannot be __**that **__stupid?_

Then again, he was.

The Tyler's had a very _mixed _reputation in the neighbourhood. According to rumours, the family were gangsters, and Lizzie and her twin brothers - Nathan and Nick - had grandparents who had been in and out of prison their whole lives, while their parents were no different, but nothing had been proven since the family moved around.

But they had reputations in the school, the siblings. Lizzie was seen as the apple of the twin's eyes, and if you attacked her, then you would be lucky not to vanish. Roxanne had heard rumours and stories of how brutal the brothers could be with those who picked on their sister; Roxanne had heard of how a kid who had been new and wanted to establish a reputation for himself had bullied Lizzie. He had nearly been beaten black and blue, and the parents were strangely silenced. Roxanne had just assumed it was a rumour, but even so the brothers were two people you did not want to get on the wrong side of. How could Dudley be so stupid?

"Yeah, well, Durselys's not that bright; how many times has he slapped some of us around, demanding things, and throwing those stupid tantrums, only for his parents to be dragged in?"

"What about you, ah, Potter, isn't it?"

Roxy took a deep breath when she heard her surname, and she realised they had seen she was there listening. Seeing the teacher wasn't here yet, Roxy knew there was some time, and so she turned her head and looked at the other kids.

"I saw it from inside," she commented, "but what happened?"

"Lizzie was just hanging out with some of her friends when Dudley and his gang walked over. He demanded something from her, money I think; we don't really know," one girl said grimly. "All we know was she refused, and he smacked her in the face. And I mean he smacked her. Like, really hard. She was knocked to the ground and he jeered when she cried for her brothers. They came over and beat your cousin up, and then the teachers got there. But they're too late."

"Why?"

"Because the brothers will tell their parents, and believe us you don't want to get on the wrong side of the Tyler's," a boy said looking at her solemnly as if he had been told she had been infected with a life-threatening disease.

"He's right," one of the girls said. "What do you know about the Tyler's?"

"Are you saying everything everyone says about them is true?" Roxanne asked, not saying anything full stop about what she had heard about the Tyler family.

"Of course they are. We know dozens of people have disappeared 'cause of them. Dunno why the coppers don't do anything 'bout them though."

Roxanne had by now tuned them out. She wasn't sure whether or not to believe what she was hearing, but she knew enough about the Tyler's to know whatever they likely had in mind for Dudley, it was not going to be good.

_Oh, Dudley, you idiot. _

Just then the teacher came in and Roxanne turned in her chair.


	2. Chapter 2

**Kuro Neko.**

"It had to be the girl! She did this to my son!" Uncle Vernon bellowed into the face of the Headmaster, who didn't even bat an eyelid; Roxy was impressed, the last headteacher she'd had usually caved within thirty seconds of hearing her uncle's voice, but this one seemed to have developed a thicker skin towards annoying parents.

Roxy wondered if he was finding her uncle and aunt more trouble than they were worth, though, since this was about the hundredth time they had been brought into the school, and they had instantly gone into denial about what her stupid cousin had done. It did occur to Roxanne that her stupid relatives had simply not bothered to understand the whole message the Headmaster had given them about what had happened, but she couldn't be sure. Personally, she had the feeling her aunt and uncle had been told porkies by their piggy son who was being tended to by the nurse. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had come into the school twenty minutes ago, but they had come into the Headmaster's office blustering with rage, and Uncle Vernon had glared at her maliciously, his eyes promising pain.

Her Headmaster hadn't noticed, but she had also caught the exasperated looks he had sent her way when they had started yelling she should be punished, the questions in his eyes clear, obviously wondering what they had been told.

She had merely shrugged her shoulders, more than used to her relatives stupid moments.

Personally, Roxanne would never understand her relatives, but she wasn't certain if they were just in denial about their son or they just wanted an excuse to use to slander her even more. Another thing she couldn't work out was why her uncle was going off like this when he must have seen the CCTV feed showing what his son had done a dozen times over, but she found she didn't really care.

"Mr Dursley," the Headmaster got out, picking up the remote control and pressed play. Instantly the television came on and they watched as Dudley walked over to where Lizzie Tyler was just chatting with her friends.

Petunia groaned when she heard Dudley's voice loud and clear, and even Roxanne was surprised; she hadn't been in the office when the headmaster had played the CCTV, so she didn't know it could pick up sound. She had heard there had been several acts of vandalism against the school before it had CCTV, but when the cameras and microphones had been picked up, it had been easy for the authorities to find out who was carrying it out, which led to an airtight case for the police.

"_Oi, gimme your cash!" _Dudley's voice came from the television.

One of Dudley's friends looked nervous, and Roxy didn't know whether or not to be impressed that one of her cousins' new gang had some common sense.

"_Er, Dud, do you know who this is?"_

"_Yeah, just some little bitch who's gonna give us cash!" _The dismissive tone in Dudley's voice made Roxy shake her head before she heard the sound of someone gasping, and she turned and saw the sound had come from her aunt, who was looking at the scene in horror. Roxy turned away. She didn't care what her aunt was making out of this, but she doubted anything would get through to Dudley even if Petunia did try to make her son into a better person. It was too late in her mind.

Dudley had been spoilt and told he was better than everybody else his entire life while his parents did everything for him while making sure he didn't have any boundaries. In any case, her cousin was nearly ten years old, and in Roxy's mind, he was too old to be taught anything different. But maybe this would make her aunt see reality, although truthfully she had the feeling her aunt had been seeing reality for some time, she didn't want to admit it to herself.

Either way, it made no difference. Uncle Vernon would still continue to make Dudley act the way he did. Nothing could change that.

"_No," _Lizzie snapped, and she continued chatting with her friends, but she cried out sharply when Dudley's massive paw of a hand latched itself around her arm and swung her around.

"_Did you just say no, to me!? No-one says no to me! Now GIVE ME YOUR CASH!"_

Even on the screen, Lizzie's fear was as clear as day, but Roxanne was deeply impressed when she saw the other girl glaring at Dudley with anger. _"I said no, now fuck off. You really don't wanna mess with my family-."_

Dudley laughed at the threat but then he smacked her across the face, and he laughed again when Lizzie screamed in pain when the massive paw slapped her face. Roxy winced at the sound of the smack and Lizzie's cry of pain.

"_Lizzie, what's going on?" _On the screen Dudley turned when he was alerted to the sound of someone's voice, and found himself looking into the terrified faces of the crowd of students surrounding the scene, but forcing their way through were two boys, both much bigger and taller than Dudley, but where Dudley's size was simply fat, theirs was muscle.

"_What're yer doin' to our sister?" _

"_It wasn't me, it was…my cousin. Yeah, my cousin did this! I was trying to stop her, but my cousin is a freak," _Dudley grinned triumphantly, pleased by what he would describe as his quick thinking, though he had used this excuse more than once before.

"_It wasn't his cousin,_" Lizzie's quiet voice made her two brothers look down at her, but with their backs to the cameras, Roxy couldn't see their expressions. _"It was this fat pig. He wanted me to give him my money, I said no. He laughed and said no-one says no to him -."_

"_You shut your mouth, you freak!" _Dudley's smugly triumphant expression faded as he looked down at the girl, raising his fist threateningly.

That was more than enough for the brothers; the moment they registered the clear threat towards their sister, one of them grabbed Dudley and punched him in the eye. Dudley squealed like the pig he was for a moment before the other twin held up his hands as he slipped on something on his hands before he delivered his own blows, which made her cousin scream in pain. Roxy frowned curiously, wondering what it was that particular brother had slipped onto his fingers, but while she was certainly entertained by what she was seeing since this was the first time her idiot cousin had ever been given a taste of his own medicine after being spoilt mad by his moron parents, Roxy knew better than to let her enjoyment of the scene be visible.

The Headmaster turned off the television, unknowingly making Roxanne groan. _Oh, I was enjoying that, _she thought to herself, wishing Dudley was in the room so she could take stock his injuries, but her cousin was being tended by the nurse.

She glanced at her relatives. Aunt Petunia had her hand to her mouth, crying silently while Vernon was red in the face with a dangerous purple hue already starting to show, but beyond that, he had been rendered speechless.

"After seeing that, I am more than tempted to expel your son, since he started the whole mess off. Let me finish," he added with a quiet snap when he saw the deflated Vernon about to open his mouth, "this is not the first time your son has displayed this type of behaviour, but I am at the end of my patience with him, and so is the Board of Governors."

"You are thinking of _expelling _my son, and yet you're thinking of letting those boys get away with beating him?" Uncle Vernon's voice was quivering with anger.

"They have already been suspended, and before you say anything, Mr Dursley, the punishment fits the crime; the Tyler brothers were defending their sister, whom _your son _was attacking. Contrary to their reputation, the Tyler is very strict on their children, and the twins don't go out of their way to cause trouble. Dudley on the other hand _does, _and the teachers and I have had you in here to get him straightened out a dozen times over. I think we have shown great patience. And it looks like we were wrong to expect you to rein him in, and make him actually learn here," the Headmaster's voice was becoming increasingly harsh as he went on, "and it certainly appears to me and my colleagues you _have not done anything._

"Your son is a bully; he attacks kids in and out of class, enjoying every minute of it. He threatens them, and if they so much as say no, he beats them up. It's even _worse _with his cousin, and it is already making me prepare to advise social services to find out what is going on. He disrupts classes where he is supposed to be learning, and it causes problems with the education of the class. I don't really care about your opinions about school, Mr and Mrs Dursley, but I have had dozens of complaints from teachers, students, and parents alike about your son. You should have gotten smart when I first had you in here and made it clear to Dudley he wasn't going to get away with anything in my school. You have spoilt him-."

Vernon leapt to his feet. "HOW DARE YOU!"

The Headmaster reared back at the sudden sight of the angry man, but he calmed down quickly. "You threaten me, Mr Dursley, and I will definitely involve the police. I don't care. I have had enough of your screams and threats. It's time for you to wake up and see this type of behaviour will not stand in this school. If you touch me, I will tell the police. I am not frightened of that, are you?"

Petunia, proving she had some intelligence in her skull, immediately placed her hands on her angry husband's arm. "Vernon, please, calm down," she implored him. "This isn't going to help."

Vernon took a visible deep breathe as he tried to regain his composure and he sat down heavily in his visitors' chair. Petunia let out a deep breathe herself, and she did her best to calm down, and as she shifted she suddenly caught sight of Roxanne's expression. The girl was looking coldly at her and her uncle, her eyes glinting like two emerald chips of ice. Petunia swallowed and looked away.

Roxanne knew full well why her aunt was worried. Personally Petunia probably didn't care about whether or not her oaf of a husband hurt the headmaster, but she had caught the warning of social services being called in; while the new house didn't have all the incriminatory evidence the old one did with the Cupboard under the Stairs, all the social services people would have to do was take a look at the bloodied bedsheets, and look at the injuries she had sustained over the years, although Roxy didn't have much hope. She had done that before, and it had nearly gotten her killed.

No, the Dursleys didn't want social services here.

The Headmaster had seen the exchange and he wondered just what life was like for the girl, who wasn't saying a word and seemed to be enjoying this whole thing. "As I was saying, you two have spoilt him. I have had a look at his educational record; the funny thing is, the headteacher of his previous school claims Dudley is an angel, but some teachers say otherwise. I am already thinking of reporting it with the evidence collected in the time Dudley has been here to call for an investigation. I am not going to let your son back into this school, but I'd be more concerned with the Tylers. Your son attacked Lizzie Tyler, and the family looks after its own."

Roxy's ears pricked up when she heard the warning, and she looked at the Headmaster curiously. That was the second time someone had said the Tylers weren't a family to get on the bad side of, and it made her wonder what would happen. Personally she hoped whatever they did, her Aunt and Uncle woke up and saw the real world for what it was.

XXX

She should have expected trouble, really. After the verbal beating the Headmaster had given to her uncle and aunt, she should have _known _the Dursleys wouldn't take that lying down. And since they couldn't touch the Headmaster, she was seen as fair game.

Roxanne had let her guard down. She had spent the day trying to find out more about the Tylers. Most of what she had heard was mostly hearsay, and while the students, particularly those in their year, and those in Dudley's class, were over the moon he had been expelled from the school, everyone was still…_nervy _about the Tylers, so she wasn't able to pick up much about them.

There were dozens of rumours about the Tylers. Some people said the family were criminals and had contacts _everywhere _while others claimed they were criminals who were legitimately connected with the council and with other powerful friends and had a string of legitimate businesses. It had reminded her uncomfortably of Little Whinging, but she knew it wasn't the same.

From the sounds of it, whether it was an exaggeration on the part of everyone else, the Tyler's were more powerful and owned a lot more than a stupid drill company, and yet…. There was just so much about them that made little sense from where Roxy was standing, and she wondered what they were going to do about the Dursleys.

It was something that bothered her all day, and it made it difficult for the girl to concentrate on her work.

On the way home, Roxy got back to the house on automatic navigation, her mind racing while she tried to work out what the Tylers were going to do, and what was going to happen with the Dursleys. When she reached the front door of the house….she suddenly felt a large meaty hand grab her school blouse and yank her inside before she even had time to work out what was going on.

Roxanne gasped but she cried out in pain when she suddenly felt something smack her face while she heard the door close.

"YOU FREAK!" Vernon's bellow in her ear made her wince before she screamed in pain when she felt a terrific pain in her leg, and she looked up in horror and saw that Dudley was lifting his massive foot up from where it had been hovering over her leg, a massive grin identical to the one he had smirked at the Tyler brothers in the CCTV tape.

Dudley had just snapped her leg.

_God, that hurts, _Roxanne thought to herself, remembering the last time one of her limbs was broken by one of the Dursley men. Vernon pulled her hair upwards, and she closed her eyes in pain before she felt him punching her this time in the face.

"We should never have taken you in, your little bitch. We should have just left you in the orphanage!"

Roxanne didn't say anything about that given that _she had wished _they had left her in an orphanage. _Anything to just get away from the Dursley family in general. _

But she wasn't suicidal enough to say anything about the beating before Vernon threw her back to the ground and kicked her in the chest. Roxy wheezed out a gasp, wincing as she felt the pain in her chest. She wasn't sure, but it felt one of her ribs had been broken. It had been years since she had had a beating like this, and she wondered what had set the Dursleys off the most; the fact the Headmaster had pissed them off, or the fact Petunia had caught her look of contempt.

Roxy barely had time to gasp before she felt one of Vernon's meaty paws punch her right in the gut. As she lay there on the ground, barely able to breathe from the pain she was feeling, Roxy cursed the whole mess. She cursed the Headmaster and the school for dragging the Dursleys in even though they needed to know about what was happening with Dudley. She cursed herself for paying more attention to the Tyler's and not coming back here expecting trouble; if she had been more prepared, she might have managed something to avoid the worst of this, maybe even do a runner.

But she didn't have time to think about the last time it had hurt this bad because Petunia had just come in with a massive steaming pan in her oven glove protected hands.

Vernon noticed his wife's presence and grinned. "Go on, Pet!" he grinned.

Roxy's eyes widened in horror. Her aunt had never really taken part in the abuse, maybe a few slaps here and there, but never anything like this. A part of her hoped her aunt wasn't going to do it…

But Aunt Petunia looked down at her with pinched lips. Roxy knew that her aunt hated her, but she had never gotten her hands this dirty before, and she tipped the pan and poured the contents on Roxanne's legs. The heat from the water shocked the nerves in the girl's legs, but she started screaming in pain.

She was still screaming when the door was kicked in and two people dressed smartly walked into the hall and stared in horror at the scene.

"What the fuck are you doing?" the man roared, and he tackled Vernon off of Roxy.

"Leave my husband alone-!" Petunia cried but the pain she was feeling was making Roxy go catatonic. She felt someone's hand gently touch her shoulder, and she looked up into the face of a woman with long dark glossy hair.

"Sweetie, are you okay?"

_Of course, I'm not okay. _

Then it all went black.

XXX

The first thing she noticed when she woke up as she was lying in a comfortable bed. The next was the smell, which smelt like nothing she had smelt at the Dursleys' new house. As was her habit, Roxanne woke up gradually to let her senses become accustomed to everything around her while she maintained the facade of still being asleep while she listened out.

"_Doctor Hulke to report in please."_

Roxy woke up and she realised she was in a hospital bed in a ward with other people.

And she was alone…


End file.
